How to Do Niche Keyword Research (When Google Keyword Planner Fails)
If you’ve ever launched a store or campaign around a product like 3D-printed lamps, scuba fins, or keto dog treats—you know the pain.
Keyword Planner says: no data available.
You’re left guessing. Or worse, chasing broad terms that eat your budget and attract the wrong audience.
In this guide, I’ll show you how to do keyword research when Google won’t give you a starting point. These methods work for SEO, PPC, and content ideation.
TL;DR: Google Keyword Planner is built for high-volume advertisers, not niche brands. This guide walks you through tactical methods to discover SEO and PPC keywords for underserved markets, using scraping, AI, and unconventional tools.
🤖 Start With Human Language: Reddit, Etsy, Amazon
People describe niche products very differently than you do in your brief or meta titles.
What to do:
- Search Reddit threads in relevant subreddits (e.g.
r/InteriorDesign,r/luxuryhomes,r/femalefashionadvice) - Scrape Etsy product titles in your niche
- Check Amazon reviews and Questions sections
Tool tip: Use a simple Python script or browser scraper to extract phrases and build a frequency map.
Why this works:
These platforms are where real buyers talk—and they use long-tails, comparisons, weird spelling, and specific use cases.
Example:
- You say: “3D Printed Lamp”
- Reddit says: “bedside nightlight with USB port that looks like a mushroom”
- Amazon says: “cute lamp for kids with no plug”
That’s keyword gold.
🔧 Use AI to Expand Buyer Vocabulary
Once you get a few seed terms, use AI to simulate niche buyer behavior.
My workflow:
- Feed ChatGPT / Gemini 5–20 product reviews from real users
- Ask it to output:
- User pain points
- Purchase motivators
- Descriptive product language
- Prompt it to cluster that language into:
- SEO-friendly phrases
- Paid search keywords
- Long-tail blog titles
Bonus: Use NotebookLM to ingest a whole review dataset and extract buyer sentiment clusters over time.
🔄 Advanced Workflow Sneak Peek: In my upcoming guide on research workflows, I’ll show how I scrape Reddit for questions using a custom Colab script, convert the dataset to PDF via Google Docs, then feed it into NotebookLM to surface deeper audience insights and content gaps. Stay tuned.
📊 Use These Free Tools for Hard-to-Find Keywords
| Tool | What It Does |
|---|---|
| AlsoAsked | Shows related questions asked in search, based on SERP analysis |
| AnswerThePublic | Visual keyword clusters based on Google autosuggest |
| Ubersuggest | Great for lower-volume niches and broad matches |
| Keyword Sheeter | Dumps long-tail variations rapidly |
| SEO Minion | Exports “People Also Ask” data in bulk |
| Etsyhunt | Specific for Etsy sellers—competitor tags, title insights |
Use these as starting points, not gospel. Combine them into one sheet, clean duplicates, and start grouping by intent.
👁️ Don’t Forget Visual and Platform-Specific Keywords
For handmade, visual, or boutique products, a big portion of search demand happens outside Google:
- Instagram Search
- TikTok Hashtags
- Etsy Tags
Try searching these platforms and noting:
- Autocomplete suggestions
- Product filter keywords
- Hashtag clusters that repeat
Then repurpose those terms into:
- Blog posts
- PPC ad groups
- Product variants
✍️ Build Your Own Keyword Cluster Tool (Optional but Powerful)
I built a simple internal tool that:
- Accepts seed keywords
- Scrapes SERPs + subreddit titles
- Runs clustering with KMeans
- Outputs groups like:
- [use case keywords]
- [gift / occasion keywords]
- [spec / feature keywords]
You can build your own in Google Colab or use GPT to simulate clustering based on frequency and contextual similarity.
Future idea: I may release a public version of this tool if there’s demand. Let me know.
🧰 Final Thoughts
Niche products aren’t impossible to rank for. They just need a different playbook.
You won’t find success copy-pasting high-volume tactics. But if you:
- Listen to how real people describe your product
- Analyze behavior on non-Google platforms
- Use AI to simulate buying logic
…you’ll be way ahead of your competitors who are stuck on generic tools.
If you’re working on a niche SEO or paid campaign and want a second brain on keyword strategy, get in touch.